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Dissolution and spatial distribution of resin acids and retene in sediments contaminated by pulp and paper industry

  • SEDIMENTS, SEC 1 • SEDIMENT QUALITY AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT • RESEARCH ARTICLE
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Abstract

Purpose

Wood extractives in sediments originating from the wood industry may interfere with benthic biota in aquatic environments. The research area was the Äänekoski watercourse in Central Finland, which has been affected by the chemical wood industry for over a century. The goal was to determine the dissolution potency of resin acids (RAs) and their derivative, retene, in the sediment, and their current vertical and spatial stratification to assess the load due to potential erosion.

Materials and methods

Sediments were collected from two upstream reference sites and three lake-like basins, located as far as 33 km downstream from the mills. The dissolution potency was studied by two different agitation times and temperatures from sediment-water (1+4 v/v) elutriates. The vertical distribution of extractives was determined from the uppermost 20 cm of sediment. Using spatial interpolation, the distribution of extractives was estimated from two upper sediment layers (0–2 and 2–5 cm) downstream from the source. According to the interpolation, the total amount of dehydroabietic (DHAA) and isopimaric acids (IPA) were calculated as kg/ha in the whole sediment area.

Results and discussion

The total concentration of RAs in the surface sediment reached up to 168 µg/g dw, and they were found to desorb to water up to 77 µg/l. The concentrations of retene were low both in the sediment (<51 µg/g dw) and elutriate (<0.53 µg/l). Spatial interpolation showed that the highest calculated amounts of the most abundant RAs were in Kuhnamo basin, in the sediment layer 2–5 cm; the estimated amount of DHAA and IPA were approximately 440 and 85 kg/ha, respectively.

Conclusions

Disturbances may change the exposure situation, causing desorption of sediment-associated compounds in levels that may be harmful to aquatic animals. The amount of desorption varies depending on the concentration of contaminants in sediment, the nature of disturbance, and the sediment organic carbon content. Low retene concentrations can be explained by oxic conditions and low abundance of RAs in the sediments.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to show our appreciation to the Academy of Finland for financing this project (7109823). In addition, we wish to thank Mervi Koistinen and Leena Siitonen for their technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Heli Rämänen, Heli Lassila, Anssi Lensu, Marja Lahti & Aimo Oikari

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  1. Heli Rämänen
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  2. Heli Lassila
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  3. Anssi Lensu
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  4. Marja Lahti
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  5. Aimo Oikari
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Correspondence to Heli Lassila.

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Responsible editor: Jan Schwarzbauer

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Rämänen, H., Lassila, H., Lensu, A. et al. Dissolution and spatial distribution of resin acids and retene in sediments contaminated by pulp and paper industry. J Soils Sediments 10, 349–358 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-009-0179-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-009-0179-5

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